Premonition of Evil
Adolph Gottlieb
Contemporary Art
Adolph Gottlieb was an Abstract Expressionist painter whose subjects and forms were derived from sources including African and Native American art. His series of Pictographs (1941–51) related to the beliefs and myths of these cultures, from which he created a unique visual language. Premonition of Evil, painted just after the end of World War II, depicts fragments of the human body in divided areas of the composition. Searching eyes stare out at the viewer through the windows in Gottlieb's informal grid.
MEDIUM
Oil and tempera on canvas
DATES
1946
DIMENSIONS
unframed: 40 1/8 x 36 1/8 in. (101.9 x 91.8 cm);
framed: 40 3/4 x 36 3/4 in. (103.5 x 93.3 cm) (show scale)
SIGNATURE
Signed lower left: "Adolph Gottlieb"
COLLECTIONS
Contemporary Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
1990.163
CREDIT LINE
Gift of the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Inc. in honor of Esther Gottlieb and Lawrence Alloway
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Adolph Gottlieb (American, 1903–1974). Premonition of Evil, 1946. Oil and tempera on canvas, unframed: 40 1/8 x 36 1/8 in. (101.9 x 91.8 cm);. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Inc. in honor of Esther Gottlieb and Lawrence Alloway, 1990.163. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1990.163_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 1990.163_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
© Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, New York, NY
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